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[Pegasus Publishers] A Lady Born, A Pirate Bred by Claire Merchant

Have you ever read a series and wondered, when is this going to end?! Or what about a standalone that made you cry because it was a standalone? WELL that’s what happened to me while I was finishing up A Lady Born, A Pirate Bred

Basically this story is about Corey, a young girl who has lived her life as a pirate and then one day her Captain/father-figure tells her she needs to be more ladylike. He starts to decrease her work on deck and tells her to take lessons from their resident Lady Sirena, which she strongly opposes, saying she’s a pirate and not a lady. Of course, Captain Lear doesn’t give up and uses his authority to at least have Corey try out being a lady.

It’s this simple request/command that then lands Corey on a different ship when she’s confused for Lady Sirena, who turns out to be a runaway lady with a huge bounty on her head!

Before she’d been kidnapped, all I could think about was where the love triangle for this story would be (I mean, it’s YA, there has to be one, right?!). At first I thought this was going to be something with Corey, Kai, and Morgan. Morgan was real easy as he treated Corey different from the start, being all handsy and just different. Kai was the second guy to me, just because he was one of the few others who had enough booktime to possibly be #2. Because I didn’t really like Morgan I was instantly rooting for Kai, but nothing happened.

When we finally met Sebastian I completely changed over and was rooting for him. I know, I know, enemy pirate who kidnaps Corey, ISN’T THAT EXCITING?!

Recently I’ve come to realize I’m more into pairings that are exciting and enemies/rivals usually cover that part. And to say I loved their interaction is putting it lightly. I really enjoyed how Sebastian didn’t underestimate Corey and he’d chained her up like any other possible danger. I really loved how Corey didn’t just fall in love with Sebastian. She’d admitted he was attractive but the same went with some of her other crew members (she wasn’t blind).

She also didn’t just become a lady because everyone was telling her to. She wasn’t afraid to strip to her frilly corset and underpants, she’d still throw better than any pirate we’d met, and she could, for the most part, hold her own against others. At the same time she also cared deeply for her comrades, for the enemy pirates, and with some help, learned what love was.

Yes, Corey makes the list of some of my favorite female characters in novels.

In terms of story, I didn’t think there was anything special about this book but considering I went in thinking this would be some love triangle story, I was happily surprised it wasn’t. Usually I have issues over triangles because the female protagonist can’t decide who she likes but here Corey wasn’t even concerned with things like that. She was more concerned with trying to get Kai and herself off the enemy ship, save her friend Sirena, and basically stay alive. Because of this the interaction between the characters just felt natural to me and I really enjoyed that.

(except for Morgan, he was a little weird but I think I just don’t like characters like him??)

If I had to mention a problem, I would say the ending felt pretty rushed. At the beginning of the story, Corey is given a pendant by Captain Lear and he tells her it belonged to her mother. All we know at the time is that Corey was picked up by Lear and that her mother abandoned her. As the story progresses, it’s hinted that her mother might be a mermaid. Her family background isn’t really touched upon after that. Then at the end we end up meeting her grandmother and all the secrets come spilling out!

I honestly don’t think knowing that she really was a lady changes anything in the story. I mean, I’m glad we found out but I also think those pages could have been used for something else, maybe focusing more on her return and re-departure. Or maybe the story of her mother could have been better interwoven into the story

As for my second complaint: WHY IS THIS A STANDALONE?

I mean, I know the story has been completed and all, but I just want to see Sebastian and Corey together! Like, will she be allowed to work the ship like she used to with Lear (my guess is yes), and if they’re sailing back, what more will she learn? Will she ever meet up with Lear and her old crew? Will Lear ever meet her pirate babies?! AHHH, I just wish we could get a novella to cover their life together #rip

By the way, has anyone else read this? Goodreads lists me as the only one who has reviewed and rated it…And speaking of rating…I think I’ll give it a 4.5 for ‘calm collected review’ and a 5 for ‘omg enjoyment and read it now!!’ hehe. You can find this book on Amazon for $15.99!

Interesting thoughts on a sequel – never say never. I can tell you that Corey does have a daughter who appears in another of my novels (hint: Forever Ruby!). She fleetingly mentions that her parents were pirates. 😉

Really?! Ahh! I need to read that one now too! xD Is that the only book that takes place in the same world? Goodreads doesn’t have them listed as a series or anything but I really enjoyed the world so it’d be cool to check them all out :”D

Hello! :oD
All of my books take place in and around South Coast, but this book is the only one (so far) that takes place before current time. However, I am working on a couple that cross time periods, and those characters may visit some characters from this one. ;o)
The characters from my other books walk in and out of each other’s stories, so their stories don’t really just end. All of my books can be found on my website – clairemerchant.com, if you want to see what’s out there so far. ‘Forever Ruby’ flows into my Mistry Trilogy if you’re up for a fantasy series, otherwise you can just read Ruby’s story as a stand alone – but I know your feelings on some stand-alone books! ;o)

oh wow i was pretty sure i replied to this but guess not xD as for the fantasy suggestion, that’s my favorite genre so def need to check those out! i’m a big fan of the crossover of stories idea so can’t wait to see all this 😀

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